She shook her head. “I don’t know, but it seems axiomatic that he will strike at his biggest threat. Queen Chora died as we left Edring. We heard the bells as they swept north from Cynestol.” She turned to Timbriend. “You said last night that there were too many attackers. Why?”
Timbriend took a deep breath and pointed at the map. “I was able to estimate the number that came against us.” She looked up. “It was a concentrated force of well over two hundred, Lady Deel. The vast majority of the attackers never made it inside the walls. Such a force entering the Darkwater would have drawn the attention of the patrols. The fact that never took place meant that the force was gathered inside the Darkwater and then sent under cover of night to attack us here.”
Rymark pointed at his map. Splotches of red marked their encampment now. “There’s an outpost directly north of here. They were untouched last night. The implications of that are why I asked you here, Lady Deel.”
She pulled her gloves. In hundreds upon hundreds of square miles of farmland, the enemy had found them and attacked. “You think you have a traitor in your midst.”
He nodded. “It’s a possibility I must acknowledge. We have to assume they know where we are and how we defeated them last night. If there is a traitor among us, I must know. Lady Deel, I want you to delve each of us. Once you have determined that we are free from the forest’s influence, I will show you where I intend to move the camp, but no one outside this room will know before being delved.”
She tucked her gloves away and stepped quickly around the room, delving Rymark, Ellias, and Timbriend in turn, her touch thorough enough to determine each person’s innocence. Beside Fess once more, she nodded. “You’re safe, Your Majesty, at least so far as the people in this room are concerned.”
Timbriend spoke into the pause. “King Ellias has informed me of your unique gift, Lady Deel. Why not delve the entire camp?”
Rymark answered for her. “We have thousands of men and women here,” he said. “The use of the gift is tiring. While it may come to what you suggest, even with Lord Fess joining her, the process would take weeks, perhaps months, to complete.”
Ellias dipped his head in agreement. “Come, Timbriend. We are done here, and I wish to see your analysis of last night’s engagement as soon as possible.” The tent flap fluttered at their departure.
Toria gestured at the map. “Where will you place your camp, Your Majesty? I should know that before we depart.”
“You’re still leaving?”
She nodded. “Nothing has changed. Despite your losses here, Cesla’s losses were worse. He gambled a sizable force on the attack and lost much of it, but you still need weapons, and the camp to the west has fewer casualties than any other—we must find out why.”
“Our losses may be greater than you know, Lady Deel,” he said, nodding to Fess. “Your suggestion of placing twin rings around the forest requires a great deal of men and perfect discipline. We have the first, provided we don’t suffer many more attacks like last night’s, but the second is impossible, or nearly so.” He shook his head. “We already have more conscripts than I’d prefer. Men who’ve joined the army at the point of a sword have a way of disappearing.”
“All the more reason Fess and I should investigate the lower casualty rate at your outpost,” she said. “Whatever they’re doing is working.”
Rymark sighed. “Very well.” He pointed to a spot thirty leagues from their current position. “I’ll be moving the camp here.” His finger landed on the Darkwater River, ten leagues north of Treflow.
Her heart might have skipped a beat as the implications of his choice became clear. “You’re planning lines of retreat, Your Majesty?”
His eyes, somber and hooded with lack of sleep, betrayed him for an instant. “I’ve developed an intuition about battle, Lady Deel, which has seldom betrayed me. I will use every tool and suggestion that I can put my hand to, even using the arcane knowledge of the mathematicum. But my intuition tells me this is a war I cannot win.”
She kept herself from nodding, unwilling to confirm his fears. “Hold as long as you can. If men and weapons cannot win the war, then we will find another way. If Aer is willing.”
“You’ll need uniforms and letters of authorization,” Rymark said. “They’ll help you move among the outposts, and you’ll be able to commandeer whatever you require.”
They reached the first outpost later that morning, the men already working to split weapons and supplies, with the majority moving farther from the forest. Toria reined in her horse, sighing. Wag sat on her left, waiting patiently.
“Lady Deel?” Fess asked.
“It’s time that you shouldered your burden as a member of the Vigil, Fess. We’ll delve a sampling of the soldiers and check for vaults.” When his face tightened, she went on, her tone sharpening. “Bronwyn didn’t pass her gift to you. It went free and came to you by Aer’s intent.”
The fingers of his hand twitched, an attempt to brush her assertion away. “Chance.”
Her tone became withering. “Don’t be childish. You know better. Bronwyn chose you to be her apprentice and then died, purposely without passing it on to you. Aer stepped in and brought the gift to you anyway. You would never have received it by mere chance. When we see Timbriend again, I can ask her to calculate the probability of such an event, if you wish. I have no feel for the mathematicum, but I know an impossibility when I see it. Aer chose you.”
“I didn’t want it.”
“No one does!” She clenched her teeth. “Some of us only think we do. Then we discover exactly what you have. Do
